All Desiderius Erasmus Quotes
- By burning Luther's books you may rid your bookshelves of him, but you will not rid men's minds of him. Book
- Everybody hates a prodigy, detests an old head on young shoulders. Detests
- It is wisdom in prosperity, when all is as thou wouldn't have it, to fear and suspect the worst. All
- It's the generally accepted privilege of theologians to stretch the heavens, that is the Scriptures, like tanners with a hide. Accepted
- The entire world is my temple, and a very fine one too, if I'm not mistaken, and I'll never lack priests to serve it as… Entire
- War is delightful to those who have had no experience of it. Delightful
- What is popularly called fame is nothing but an empty name and a legacy from paganism. Called
- The nearer people approach old age the closer they return to a semblance of childhood, until the time comes for them to depart this life,… Age
- Everyone knows that by far the happiest and universally enjoyable age of man is the first. What is there about babies which makes us hug… Age
- Only a very few can be learned, but all can be Christian, all can be devout, and – I shall boldly add – all can… Add
- At last concluded that no creature was more miserable than man, for that all other creatures are content with those bounds that nature set them,… All
- I consider as lovers of books not those who keep their books hidden in their store-chests and never handle them, but those who, by nightly… All
- Bidden or unbidden, God is present. Bidden
- The chief element of happiness is this: to want to be what you are. Chief
- Given a choice between a folly and a sacrament, one should always choose the folly—because we know a sacrament will not bring us closer to… Always Choose
- Now what else is the whole life of mortals, but a sort of comedy in which the various actors, disguised by various costumes and masks,… Actors
- Almost all Christians being wretchedly enslaved to blindness and ignorance, which the priests are so far from preventing or removing, that they blacken the darkness,… All
- ...it is a sneaking piece of cowardice for authors to put feigned names to their works, as if, like bastards of their brain, they were… Afraid
- The main hope of a nation lies in the proper education of its youth Education
- It is the chiefest point of happiness that a man is willing to be what he is. Chiefest
- Fortune favours the audacious. Audacious
- You must acquire the best knowledge first, and without delay; it is the height of madness to learn what you will later have to unlearn. Acquire
- War is sweet to those who haven't tasted it. Dulce bellum inexpertis. Bellum
- You'll see certain Pythagorean whose belief in communism of property goes to such lengths that they pick up anything lying about unguarded, and make off… Belief
- Humility is truth. Humility